East Meets West: Sexuality, Women, Agism and the Physically Challenged

One of Sweeping Zen’s sponsors is under criticism for some of its policies regarding the ordination of LGBT individuals, women, and those with physical disabilities. The Taego Order of Korea has recently started expanding its outreach here in the West, largely at the behest of Ven. Jongmae Park, Bishop of the Overseas Parish. Sometimes considered more progressive in its homeland of Korea for allowing the ordination of non-celibate (male) monks into the order, they still have a long way to go in the West if they are to become a significant voice in our Western Dharma. In the Western mahasangha, a great value is placed on the equality of all people, and most of us wouldn’t bat an eye when learning that the sangha is comprised of gay and lesbian individuals, the elderly, non-celibate women, or those who have physical limitations. It is next to impossible for an organization to flourish and thrive here without including (and embracing) absolutely everyone.

Unfortunately, it appears there is a discriminatory attitude and a double standard at play in the Taego Order at present. Lawrence Grecco was, until recently, on trek for ordination as a monk within the order until he left upon realizing that the Taego hierarchy would not recognize openly gay and lesbian monastics and would, in fact, expel them if discovered. In a piece he authored as an open letter on Facebook (full post here: http://networkedblogs.com/i2uBZ), he said:

“When I first inquired last year about entering the IBS seminary program, I was told that openly gay people are welcome to be ordained as monks in this lineage. However, during the protocol retreat at Muddy Water Zen Center in Michigan last April, Bishop Jongmae Park made some statements about this issue that left me confused. When I asked Hae Doh Sunim for clarification via email, I was informed of the following points (some of them copied and pasted below):

The Taego Order hierarchy will not recognize the ordination of gay & lesbian monks, and, in fact, if they discover practicing gay/lesbian full monks, they’ll most certainly expel said monk(s) immediately.

In order to protect the growth and development of our parish it is mandated that when in public and wearing grays (informal or formal grays) there will be no behavior suggesting that said monk (samanera, samaneri, bhikkhu or bhikkhuni) is either practicing or promoting gay/lesbian relationships.

If it becomes known in whatever way that a monk is engaging openly in sexual identity behavior while in ‘uniform’, it then becomes necessary that the Overseas Parish Disciplinary Board will admonish and, possibly, expel said monk, even before headquarters hears of such things.

Bishop Jongmae has chosen a middle path that allows complete participation of practicing gays and lesbians as full monks in the clergy sangha while at the same time necessitating they maintain a cautious boundary in order to protect this allowance .”

Grecco goes on to write, “To his credit, Bishop Park is trying his best to change most if not all of these rules, but progress often happens all too slowly and with much resistance due to cultural and religious biases.”

For that, I applaud Ven. Jongmae Park and I hope that reformation and change results from all of this. There are also rules that only allow ordination for individuals under the age of 55 and women, unlike their male counterparts, are required to remain celibate if ordained in the order. Grecco says, “While I appreciate the fact that some allowances have been made thanks to the efforts of Bishop Park, one can hardly consider it “progress” to allow a woman to ordain as monk but require that she be celibate while a male need not be. It is not “progress” to allow a gay or lesbian person to ordain but to make sure they don’t express affection to their partner while their straight counterparts are free to do so. There is nothing progressive about restricting ordination to those under the age of 55, nor is it ok to tell a physically challenged person that they need not even apply in the first place.”

I hope that the Taego Order and Ven. Park take heed of this, because it will come to shape the impact they will ultimately have in Western countries like the United States. I think that the Taego Order has much to offer here and I think everyone would like to see them flourish, though this will not be possible if discrimination and double standards remain in place.

About Adam Kō Shin Tebbe

Adam Kō Shin Tebbe (Kō Shin meaning Shining Heart) is editor at Sweeping Zen and is a blogger for Huffington Post's Religion section, writing mainly on topics of interest to Zen practitioners. Before starting the website in 2009, Adam trained to be a chemical dependency counselor. Adam is currently working on a documentary on Zen in North America (titled Zen in America) with a projected release date of 2017.

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